When my son was around 3 years old, he used to ask me a lot of questions about heaven. Where is it?

How do people walk without a body? How will I find you? You know the questions that kids ask. For over a year, I lied to him and made up stories that I didnt believe about heaven. Like most parents, I love my child so much that I didnt want him to be scared. I wanted him to feel safe and loved and full of hope. But the tradeoff was that I would have to make stuff up, and I would have to brainwash him into believing stories that didnt make sense, stories that I didnt believe either. One day he would know this, and he would not trust my judgment. He would know that I built an elaborate tale not unlike the one we tell children about Santato explain the inconsistent and illogical legend of God. And so I thought it was only right to be honest with my children. I am a non-believer, and for years Ive been on the fringe in my community. As a blogger, though, Ive found that there are many other parents out there like me. We are creating the next generation of kids, and there is a wave of young agnostics, atheists, free thinkers and humanists rising up through the ranks who will, hopefully, lower our nations religious fever. Here are a few of the reasons why I am raising my children without God. God is a bad parent and role model.

If God is our father, then he is not a good parent. Good parents dont allow their children to inflict harm on others. Good people dont stand by and watch horrible acts committed against innocent men, women and children. They dont condone violence and abuse. He has given us free will, you say? Our children have free will, but we still step in and guide them. God is not logical. How many times have you heard, Why did God allow this to happen? And this: Its not for us to understand. Translate: We dont understand, so we will not think about it or deal with the issue. Take for example the senseless tragedy in Newtown. Rather than address the problem of guns in America, we defer responsibility to God. He had a reason. He wanted more angels. Only he knows why. We write poems saying that we told God to leave our schools. Now hes making us pay the price. If there is a good, allknowing, all-powerful God who loves his children, does it make sense that he would allow murders, child abuse, wars, brutal beatings, torture and millions of heinous acts to be committed throughout the history of mankind? Doesnt this go against everything Christ taught us in the New Testament? The question we should be asking is this: Why did we allow this to happen? How can we fix this? No imaginary person is going to give us the answers or tell us why. Only we have the ability to be logical and to problem solve, and we should not abdicate these responsibilities to God just because a topic is tough or uncomfortable to address.

God is not fair. If God is fair, then why does he answer the silly prayers of some while allowing other, serious requests, to go unanswered? I have known people who pray that they can find money to buy new furniture. (Answered.) I have known people who pray to God to help them win a soccer match. (Answered.) Why are the prayers of parents with dying children not answered? If God is fair, then why are some babies born with heart defects, autism, missing limbs or conjoined to another baby? Clearly, all men are not created equally. Why is a good man beaten senseless on the street while an evil man finds great wealth taking advantage of others? This is not fair. A game maker who allows luck to rule mankinds existence has not created a fair game. God does not protect the innocent. He does not keep our children safe. As a society, we stand up and speak for those who cannot. We protect our little ones as much as possible. When a child is kidnapped, we work together to find the child. We do not tolerate abuse and neglect. Why cant God, with all his powers of omnipotence, protect the innocent? God is not present. He is not here. Telling our children to love a person they cannot see, smell, touch or hear does not make sense. It means that we teach children to love an image, an image that lives only in their imaginations. What we

teach them, in effect, is to love an idea that we have created, one that is based in our fears and our hopes. God Does Not Teach Children to Be Good A child should make moral choices for the right reasons. Telling him that he must behave because God is watching means that his morality will be externally focused rather than internally structured. Its like telling a child to behave or Santa wont bring presents. When we take God out of the picture, we place responsibility of doing the right thing onto the shoulders of our children. No, they wont go to heaven or rule their own planets when they die, but they can sleep better at night. They will make their family proud. They will feel better about who they are. They will be decent people. God Teaches Narcissism God has a plan for you. Telling kids there is a big guy in the sky who has a special path for them makes children narcissistic; it makes them think the world is at their disposal and that, no matter what happens, it doesnt really matter because God is in control. That gives kids a sense of false security and creates selfishness. No matter what I do, God loves me and forgives me. He knows my purpose. I am special. The irony is that, while we tell this story to our kids, other children are abused and murdered, starved and neglected. All part of Gods plan, right? When we raise kids without God, we tell them the truthwe are no more special than the next creature. We are just a very, very small part of a big, big machine

whether that machine is nature or societythe influence we have is minuscule. The realization of our insignificance gives us a true sense of humbleness. I understand why people need God. I understand why people need heaven. It is terrifying to think that we are all alone in this universe, that one day wealong with the children we love so muchwill cease to exist. The idea of God and an afterlife gives many of us structure, community and hope. I do not want religion to go away. I only want religion to be kept at home or in church where it belongs. Its a personal effect, like a toothbrush or a pair of shoes. Its not something to be used or worn by strangers. I want my children to be free not to believe and to know that our schools and our government will make decisions based on what is logical, just and fairnot on what they believe an imaginary God wants.